Act IV scene 1

ACT IV

 Scene 1 “Thanking the People of Gubbio”

Setting: forest 

(CURTAINS OPEN; CHARACTERS ON STAGE: WOLF & SHEPHERD

WOLF:  So there you have it.  That’s Brother Francis’ life story, most of it.  After he left Assisi to go and preach, I sort of lost touch.  I heard lots of stories about him, but I kept out of sight. 

SHEPHERD:  Really?  So, don’t you go to Assisi anymore?  What do you do now?  Just hang around Gubbio?  The people there are your only friends now, I suppose.

WOLF:  I thought you knew.  I haven’t been around Gubbio for several years now.  Not since shortly after Brother Francis left.

SHEPHERD: Wait a minute!  I thought you were the famous “Wolf of Gubbio”!  Don’t you depend on those good people to feed you?

WOLF:  Oh, something like that.  Yes, I’m the famous one you’ve heard about.  But, as I told you in the first place, I’ve changed.

SHEPHERD:  So, I suppose that means you’ve found a way to be kind to them.

WOLF:  Yes.  I did that some time ago.

SHEPHERD:  I can’t think of much that a wolf could do for people.

WOLF:  It really didn’t take me long to decide what I had to do.  You see, the people were giving me a lot of food.  They couldn’t afford it.  But, I suppose, it was better than having me steal from them.  But one day I overheard some of them talking.  They weren’t being unkind.  In fact, I thought they were being extraordinarily generous.  But they kept mentioning how eating sheep was natural for wolves.  How, they thought I would starve if they didn’t feed me.

SHEPHERD:  Isn’t that true?

WOLF:  Not really.  While I was in the forest with Brother Francis, I got to thinking about my family.  They don’t steal from shepherds.  And no one gives them handouts.

SHEPHERD:  What do they do?

WOLF:  They do what is really natural for wolves.  They hunt other wild animals.  I know.  It isn’t nice to think of that.  Killing other animals.  But, those animals kill others, too.  It’s how our Creator keeps the forest from getting overrun with any one kind of animal. 

SHEPHERD:  What made you take on stealing sheep?  I mean, if hunting wild animals is really natural for you?

WOLF:  Laziness. It was easier to catch slow moving sheep that were always available than to use my brains and talent to earn my keep.  Then, when the people of Gubbio started feeding me, and being so nice about it, too, I got to feeling guilty.

SHEPHERD:  Odd.  You didn’t feel guilty about stealing the sheep.

WOLF:  True!  But I did feel guilty about taking handouts.  Especially when I realized that it wasn’t necessary.  I could feed myself.

SHEPHERD:  I see.    So, did you just say farewell to the people of Gubbio and go back to the forest?

WOLF:  Not exactly.  You see, the people were feeling so good about helping me out, and had begun to treat me like a pet, you know, like one of their dogs.  I stayed away a couple of days, but they sent out search parties for me, and seemed really upset.  They had actually grown to love me.  It was quite a problem.

SHEPHERD:  So what did you do?  It seems that you couldn’t leave, but you felt guilty about staying.  What choice did you have?

WOLF:  Well, you know that I’m not the only wolf in the forest.  I went back to my pack and told them what had happened.  They were very glad that I had come home, and would be leading a more natural lifestyle.  But there were other young wolves who were having a tough time learning to hunt.  So, I told them about Gubbio.

SHEPHERD:  What?  You set a whole pack of wolves on the people of Gubbio?  What sort of kindness is that?

WOLF:  No!  I wouldn’t do that!  I told the young wolves to take turns and only take what they needed.  No extra snacks.  That way more than one wolf could eat what the people offered.

SHEPHERD:  What did the people of Gubbio think of your plan?

WOLF:  They never found out.  It turns out that not so many wolves are as lazy as I am.  So, after a year or two, they stopped going.  When the people noticed the food was not being eaten, they set out to look for me again.  But this time, I managed to elude them.  So they thought I had died.

SHEPHERD:  How did you find out about that?

WOLF:  Brother Masseo told me that Brother Francis had heard I had died.   But Brother Masseo thought I seemed to be in pretty good health for a dead guy.  He told me the people of Gubbio were in mourning over me, and had erected a statue in my honour.  Well, I think it was really in honour of Brother Francis’ taming of this big bad wolf.  Anyway, there’s a statue to me in Gubbio.  I think that’s pretty good.  It means that I really did return their kindness, one way or another.

SHEPHERD:  Wonderful!